[ALBUM REVIEW] FANALO - SELF -TITLED LP.
Author: Mal Keecher
From Bumblefoot's European lead guitarist comes Frenchman Fanalo's bold new foray into progressive rock with genre-spanning sounds. This self-produced solo album takes the listener on a journey through three instrumental tracks reminiscent of his Plug-In days and seven vocal-driven collaborative tracks.
As progressive tracks often go, each track clocks in at over four minutes, making for an extensive and electrifying example of what Fanalo as a solo project has to offer.
'Tribes' (feat. Julien Lacharme) showcases Fanalo's obvious ability to mesmerise the ear canals with the kind of masterful and crisp guitar work difficult to ascend to. This is an entirely instrumental introduction to Fanalo's self-titled LP. Throat singing and tribal sounds then develop into a more guitar-driven stretch with impressive lead guitar. This is a standout track, clocking in at 7:05 featuring synth keys (I assume, or is that a guitar effect?) These sounds straight from the 80s, about half way through, give me Ronald Jenkee's vibes– impressively upbeat and uplifting.
'Hate 4 Sale' cycles through a vocal-driven echoic vocal harmony to guitar and synthy- electro- laden tunes, with lyrics declaring "the war has just begun" aided by Jeff Scott Soto (Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force in the 80's, Journey, Sons of Apollo) and synth/progwave maestro Volkor X.
Moving along, Jeff Scott Soto also features on 'New Found World', a brilliantly upbeat and invigorating feature on this record. I was almost expecting Dave Grohl to chime in with "hook me up a new revolution"–its sound was that reminiscent of a band that I have historically enjoyed. And when Fanalo noodles on his guitar, images of Jack Black doing his waddle-headbang rock dance come to mind.
I took a liking to the track 'Moon' mostly because after several minutes of instrumental it includes some ambient moon mission astronaut chatter, the kind that sounds cool when it's well placed in any context. And this track launches the listener into orbit with its swirling synergy, ahead of Fanalo's fantastic guitar work.
Other tracks include 'STC', aka 'Stone Cold Cynical', and 'Die To Live' features Jeff Scott Soto again with the defiant lyrics "we live to fight, we fight to win."
Rebirth' is an epic and ethereal prog -rock instrumental track and instantly appealing to the senses. It begins with a beautifully light and tranquil space–indeed that's where we could be if this was a film soundtrack. This is in my personal top three favorites from this record.
Onward, 'Isolation' (feat. Thomas Smith) and 'Rise' (feat. Christophe Ithurritze) are a little less personally remarkable, aside from the vocals on 'Rise' hitting an impressive high note half way through, and 'Why' poses a rhetorical question I can't really answer.
The verdict: Fanalo is undoubtedly a prolific lead guitarist and these collaborations are worth a listen. It's no surprise he was Bumblefoot's guitarist on their European tours over the years. There's some magnetically alluring tracks on this LP. Perhaps Fanalo will bring his skilful self to Australia sometime soon, when he's not entertaining European audiences or "shaping the next generation of musicians as the director of CIAM, one of France’s premier music training institutions.'
Fanalo’s self-titled LP is out this Friday 28.02.25.